The Mortal Instruments. Much of this didn't make any sense although I thought it was nice how she was able to hide the cup in a tarot card.
Score 6/10
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The Mortal Instruments. Much of this didn't make any sense although I thought it was nice how she was able to hide the cup in a tarot card.
Score 6/10
I watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".
I'd give it a 8/10.
I loved the soundtrack and the visuals, but I was quite disappointed by how the story actually turned out.
This film, based on a short story by Graham Greene, stands or falls by the acting of the leading character played by Rod Steiger who unfortunately gives a somewhat mannered performance as a crooked financier on the run from the British police.
The plot is ingenious in that it involves Steiger fleeing to Mexico from New York and assuming the identity of a fellow train passenger whom he drugs and throws from the train, only to find that the man is wanted for the assassination of the Mexican president. Using his victim's passport to get arrested and taken into Mexico, he reveals that he is in fact Carl Schaffner. He intends to travel to Mexico city where he has salted away a million US dollars but the corrupt police chief of the Mexican border town forces him to stay there unless Schaffner gives him 10% of his fortune. Rather than agree, he is reduced to sleeping rough and is threatened by the town's residents who regarded the assassin as a hero; his only friend being the assassin's pet dog that follows him everywhere. The British police officer who is sent to the town gets no co-operation from the police chief but catches the dog and ties it inside the US section of the bridge that links Mexico to the US. Unable to bear the dog's crying, Schaffner attempts to sneak over at night and free the animal but with tragic results.
In the hands of a more competent director, this could have been a great film on a par with Greene's The Third Man but Ken Annakin apparently fell out with Steiger during the filming and the result is a regrettable miss. 7/10
Watched the documentary 'Mansome' about men and it was very interesting and funny. Not very deep but interesting, also I love Will Arnett, his voice is just beautiful!
Drinking Buddies
Score: 10/10
This was considered a comedy on the library self, but it is more of a drama about guilt and four people who had different responses to it.
What starts out as a promising story about the hunt for a top Nazi official at the war's end, quickly degenerates into a Boy's Own Paper adventure in which the all-American hero defeats the villain and then settles down to a farmer's life in good 'ol Nebraska.
That being said, there was potential for a much better film based on the search for Martin Bormann (although that isn't his name in the film) by the US after WWII.
In this instance, the escapee arrives in Saigon to join the French foreign legion where Germans are welcome provided they have no evidence of a Nazi past. Under an assumed identity, he is drafted into the legion, unaware that an American secret service agent on his trail is also a draftee into what is colloquially called 'Rogues Regiment' on account of the number of men who have joined through being on the run for various crimes but are welcome because of the difficulty the French are having in trying to re-establish colonial rule in their former colony of Indochina.
As a picture of the French attempt to establish their former grip on Indo-China, this makes for some interesting viewing, but the overall impression is of a film trying to play both ends of German national socialism and Vietnamese national socialism against the middle. 7/10
Language of a Broken Heart
Score: 8/10
The message was a bit confusing, but the cover said it was a "sweet, romantic comedy" and that's what it was. I liked the cartoons introducing the sections of the movie. Violet got what she deserved. Nick should have treated his mother better, but he figured that out in the end. I don't understand why Nick even let Violet in the house, but it did lead to a nice ending.
I was looking for something different than the current stuff on the library shelves and this one, All My Sons, 1948 version, was available. My attention span is usually minimal unless I'm interested, but this movie did keep my interest and made me want to see more. I could predict the ending, but that kind of ending is the sort of things one gets in morality tales.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Overall, I would agree with the score 9/10.
I saw Disney's new animated movie, Frozen and would rate it 8/10.
Glad you enjoyed it. I understand that it has since been remade, but in my experience remakes seldom live up to the originals.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
The same is true of films such as The Glass Menagerie (1950) and All the KIng's Men (1949) both of which have been remade and fail miserably when compared to the originals where the acting and direction are outstanding.
Frozen- 8/10
A phenomenal come back for Disney. Didn't enjoy the newer stuff they've put out but this took me back to my childhood and is somewhat comparable to the classic Disney movies we all loved as kids.
Secret life of Walter Mitty- 3/10
I'm not much of a daydreamer and couldn't really sympathize with Ben Stiller's character. The end was a nice twist and that's the only reason why I'll give it a 3.
Wolf on Wall Street-4/10
Although borderline porn- more nudity then I ever would care to see, I did enjoy learning about the real life Jordan Belfort and his story. A good message is portrayed although I was disappointed in Scorsese for directing such a trashy movie.
Saving Mr. Banks- 5/10
An interesting but sad tale. Why is it Colin Farrell is always playing a shade-y character?
The Hobbit 2- 6/10
Too much action, and a terrible representation of the book, but standing alone it wasn't so bad and my only complaint was it could've been an hour shorter and accomplished the same thing.
Hi there Lykren. Yes, I've just watched 'Blue is the Warmest Colour' and thought it was excellent (9/10) in most respects, but not without controversy and an avoidable imperfection that has tended to taint people's view of the film as a whole. I'll try to explain my feelings without giving too much away about a great piece of cinema that I would recommend without hesitation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lykren
I personally can't remember watching a movie where I felt such empathy with the central character since Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blue from his celebrated Three Colours Trilogy produced in 1993 and starring Juliette Binoche.
I think that this has a lot to do with the film's intimacy. It is achieved through the marvellous close-up camera work of the director (Abdellatif Kechiche), and his concentration on the central character Adèle (played by the actress Adèle Exarchopoulos), although that changes somewhat during the second half of the film, returning again towards the end.
A lot of people I have talked to seem to regard the first half of the film as better than the second. I tend to disagree, feeling that the change, and there is one, is necessary as the camera pulls back to encompass the social and cultural pressures that affect any relationship over time. It's worth considering too, that Blue is the Warmest Colour was originally to be billed as La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (The life of Adele, chapters 1 & 2)
Before mentioning the movie's, for me anyway, controversial imperfection, it's worth mentioning also that there has been a lot of bad press associated with the film due to the director's treatment of the cast and crew during production. I firmly believe that those are separate issues, and should have no bearing on any critique of the film as a piece of artwork.
Now back to the movie itself, and what I see as it's imperfection, which is partially linked to the above comment...
Some of the sex scenes in the film, but not all, could have, and I believe, certainly should have been softer, more sympathetic to the tone of the rest of the film. Instead they appear to be more a portrayal of a male fantasy of lesbian sex, and are so out of character with the rest of the film that they become almost uncomfortable to watch - because you know the director is unwittingly destroying what could have been an almost perfect film.
Whilst I hesitate to label any piece of art as pornographic, a majority of those I have discussed the issue with - especially women - lean towards this label. It is also worth mentioning that Julie Maroh - the female author of the original French graphic novel - criticized the director's view/portrayal of lesbian sex.
Having said that, It's important to point out that we are talking about a couple of scenes, that are no more than a few minutes long, in a three hour film. if you haven't already, make sure you go and see this film. Blue is the Warmest Colour didn't win all those awards for nothing - and I, like Lykren, would also love to hear your views on the film! :coolgleamA:
Two other 'World Cinema' films that are very much worth seeing if you get the chance. Both are on the shortlist for an Oscar in the 'Foreign Language' category this year.
The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium :cool:
Lovely little film with a cracking 'Bluegrass' soundtrack!
The Great Beauty, Italy :cool:
A visual feast!
Prince Avalanche- very good and based on a movie from the ice. Not a role you normally see Paul Rudd in but he was great. About silence and solitude, I think the first word spoken by a character in the movie was about 4 or 5 minuets in and it's often silent. I give it 8.5/10
The Family: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404311/
A family is placed under a witness protection program and has to be moved often because none of the family members behave themselves. Too many collateral good guys got killed in the final shoot out, but overall it lived up to its comedy listing.
Score: 9/10
12 Years a Slave
10/10
Sunset Boulevard
10/10
A fantastic film that I never got round to seeing until recently, such a shame it took me this long! Recommended to anyone who, like me, has somehow managed to avoid this masterpiece thus far..
Anything Else: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313792/
This is an old Woody Allen movie about a comedian (Jason Biggs) who is supporting an annoying agent (Danny DeVito) and a annoying girlfriend (Christina Ricci) as well as another comedian (Woody Allen), almost as annoying as the other two, and needs to break free, but isn't quite able to until the end.
Score: 8/10
Directed by the celebrated Marcel Carné, this is an unfortunate dud in a long list of successes.
Starring a very young Jacques Charrier and Jean Paul Belmondo it purports to show a picture of
rebellious French youth in the manner of the 'angry young man' and 'crazy mixed up kid' scenarios
of UK and US films of the 1950s.
An earnest young science student from the well-off right bank of the Seine gets pulled into a group
of youthful neerdowells who live off of their wits and spend all of their time cavorting around left
bank bars, but he finally comes to his senses when the girl he falls for is killed in a car crash.
The credits state that it was from 'an idea by Charles Spaak' but not, I'm afraid, a good one.
However, scenes of Paris are always worth watching and Pascale Petit, who plays the main female
interest, was an absolute sweetie. 4/10
(1/10)
I finished watching Jack Reacher today, which is available on both Netflix, and Amazon Prime, which means that if you pay the yearly fee to get free 2-day shipping from Amazon then you can also stream many of their movies and TV shows for *free* (as opposed to having to rent it for 4.99 for 24 hours).
Anyone who is familiar with Netflix and Amazon Prime knows that their selections consist of movies and shows that are generally a couple of years old (with few exceptions), and it seems like the worse a movie or show is, the sooner it becomes available. I could be wrong about this, but that's the way it seems to me. So, Jack Reacher was released in theaters in December 2012 and here we are in January 2014 and it's already available on Amazon Prime, and that seems like a quick turnaround to me, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Sometimes, movies that don't do so well in theaters turn out to be brilliant.
Now, the first sentence of this post was, "I finished watching Jack Reacher" today. That's because I started it a few nights ago, and couldn't finish it. I started it at night and was too tired to get very far into to it and hadn't seen enough to form an opinion, other than "Well, maybe this movie is the type that starts out slow, and gets better."
When I finally finished it I found out that it didn't get better - it never got better. But, it was so comically bad that I at least got some amusement out of it.
My husband saw that I had started watching it but didn't finish, and so he decided to watch it while I was at work and he sent me a couple of texts about it that pretty much tell you all you need to know:
"Unnecessary cleavage!" (he's not the type to gripe about cleavage)
"Jack Reacher is long, like one of those turds that wraps around the bowl."
And it is long. It is 2 long hours of really bad acting and stiff delivery. When I finally got around to finishing the movie, I was able to laugh out loud when I saw the unnecessary cleavage that my husband was referring to in his text, but I wouldn't tell anyone to watch this movie just to see how bad it was. I've seen better B movies. Also, I had no idea what his "Unnecessary cleavage!" text was about until I saw the movie, and that could have prompted my laughter more than anything.
I saw that Tom Cruise will be developing a sequel to this, which is just great, but he's Tom Cruise and he can do whatever he wants.
'Hunger' simply 10, very very good
Ha ha ha! That about sums it up. We watched Jack Reacher last week. It was long, tedious, implausible with rubbishy characterisation. A typical Tom Cruise film. Then this week we watched Oblivion which is basically Jack Reacher but with a futuristic setting and flying machines. Yawn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shalot
Jean Gabin stars as Georges Simenon's iconic Inspector Maigret whose avuncular exterior conceals a steely resolve to bring criminals to justice in the French courts. In this case, the villains are a trio of American gangsters who arrive in Paris to kill a man who is a potential witness for the prosecution of a gangland boss in the USA. They manage to gun the man down in the street but the shooting is witnessed by a police officer who is amazed to see another car pick up the wounded man, leaving both the villains and the police stymied as to who has taken him or where he could have gone. Maigret's team at the Sûreté have the task of painstakingly tracking down the wounded man before the killers are able to find him.
Above average policier with Gabin giving a characteristically laid back performance. 8/10
The Wolf of Wall Street: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wol...et_(2013_film)
One take away from this movie is how to sell something: Make the buyer aware of a need and then have an inventory that supplies that created need. Don't describe what you have prior to identifying the need in the buyer.
The movie is long with wild parties and inane behavior to get you caught up in the plot and make the time pass quickly.
I can't see anything wrong with it, although I wouldn't want to see it again, but then there is no need to see it again.
Score: 10/10
Ah yes but notice the grey and black dog that growled at Tom Cruise for 5 seconds, I know that dog and it took over a month of training to teach him how to act like that. If the dog understood Scientology it probably would only have taken a day.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFifthElement
August: Osage County 9/10 I grew up in a town just a few miles from this setting, so this whole movie was like coming home for me. Even some of the family dynamic s. I thought everyone gave a good performance.
All is Lost 9/10 a tour de force by Robert Redford.
Best Man Down: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1885300/
The library labels this a comedy, but it's more of a drama. Although the best man got drunk during the wedding reception, this is nothing like the Hangover series which were definitely comedies. He not only acts ridiculously at the reception, he also dies afterwards.
The plot pulls all the pieces together nicely. The best man's death disrupts the plans made by the survivors, but the resolutions seem to me better than they could have anticipated.
Score: 8/10
We saw this last night. My wife told me she read a review of the movie that said something like, "If you think your family's bad, wait till you watch this movie."Quote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
I would have expected that Barbara (played by Julia Roberts) would have weighed 100 pounds more than she did. Also, from my limited experienced, the problem of abusive people like Violet (played by Meryl Streep) is that they don't take their medication not that they deliberately drug themselves more than is necessary. Barbara's 14 year old daughter (played by Abigail Breslin) seemed in character when she wanted to watch some TV show rather than go to the funeral, but other than that she seemed too quiet. Her mouth should have been running more helping to wind up the anger her mother and grandmother were projecting on those unfortunate enough to be around them. Also the TV show would have been something like Spongebob not some old movie classic. I can't think of any teenager that would have wanted to watch that movie.
So, some of the plot didn't ring true to me, but my experience and imagination are limited. I can't deny that such abusiveness is real, but that doesn't mean I trust Tracy Lett's description of reality.
Score: 8/10
Updated from the 1930s to the 50s, this is loosely based on Scott Fitzgerald's short story Babylon Revisited and has a stunningly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor as the daughter of Walter Pidgeon who plays an impoverished American living in Paris but refusing to give up living in the style to which he'd once been accustomed. Van Johnson is the American writer revisiting the city after some years when he was stationed there with the US army at the end of WWII and where he meets Taylor on the day that Paris is liberated. The story is told in flashback and recounts their marriage and Johnson's lapse into alcoholism when his novels are rejected. Both Taylor and Pidgeon give good performances and there are some amusing one-liners for the roguish father but Johnson's all at sea in his part and unconvincing as the writer. Eva Gabor plays herself as a much married gold digger and Donna Reed is good as Taylor's embittered sister who wanted Johnson for herself in this glossy romantic family saga typical of the 1950s. 7/10
In seven episodes this takes some viewing but holds interest by virtue of its convoluted plot.
The problem is that spy stories had been done to death by 1979 and, to my mind, the film no longer carried conviction despite some excellent supporting roles to Alec Guinness's rather bland performance.
Having the head of British intelligence as an aged and rather prissy academic who collects old books while performing mental gymnastics with his Russian counterpart mirrors the eccentric Sherlock Holmes's struggle against the evil Moriarty, so the scenario is somewhat motheaten. 6/10
Lone Ranger - It was entertaining, but I'm torn. I like the quirkiness of the movie Tonto but at the same time it bums me out that it isn't true to the TV series.
I watched a documentary film called Restrepo about US Marines and their battles in a remote valley in Afghanistan. It had the usual chaotic combat footage and scenes of marines relaxing in a sressful position.
What was really striking ws the understandable grief they felt when one of their comrades was killed in a Taliban attack, which contrasted with their significantly blaze attitude to female civilian deaths and children casualties, which they witnessed.
Another thing that really struck me was how a young Captain - 30 maybe - was expected to negotiate with Afghan elders when he clearly had no idea about the culture, and admitted at the beginning of the film that he had not read up on it in order to keep an open mind. You couldn't blame this chap, but the really shortsighted political policies that whoever was runing the campaign were using.
Very illuminating.
I'd like to see that one sometime, Paul. It looks really interesting. It's just that things with a lot of death in them are hard to watch. For me anyway.
The Spectacular Now. A relatively realistic coming of age story, by which I mean it is not in the vein of John Hughes, as celebrated as they are.
Also Ran, the brilliant, stately, despairing, tragic tale of a Japanese warlord who is betrayed by his sons. Based on Japanese legends and King Lear.
This has Kirk Douglas as a master criminal planning to rob an giant insurance company in Hamburg.
Apart from some ludicrous fight scenes and a silly car chase involving maximum destruction, there is the nail
biting robbery involving high tech gadgetry which Douglas and his accomplice pull off until the inevitable double cross blows the whole thing out of the water.
It's alway a shame to see class actors like Douglas reduced to the rubbish of the seventies and beyond, even though they still manage to give of their best. 6/10
I watched Prisoners last week, it was quite violent at times but overall it was a good film. I really liked Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance. 7/10
Being a great cat person, I watched this enjoyable documentary about felines. They really are the most enigmatic
creatures and also the most beautiful. 9/10
http://youtu.be/izqCgnEEKwc
The Act of Killing, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer. 9/10 This was a truly excellent documentary. In the end it was somewhat disturbing, but rarely have I seen a movie or read a book that shows the layers of good and evil in human beings like this one did.
2 Guns
This is the story of two undercover agents from different organizations who try to do the right thing while the bad guys keep popping up all over the place. The scene with the chickens is gross, totally unexpected at least from my limited experience, and I can't forget it.
Score: 10/10
I watched Liberal Arts last night and enjoyed it a lot. Josh Radnor was really funny throughout and I think he was superb as an actor, director, and writer. This movie took me back to my years in college. 7/10
I went to see Inside Llewyn Davis last night. Astonishingly good film, and one of the Coen brothers' finest outings - very much in the vein of their earlier A Serious Man, which is quite possibly my favourite film.